Chief task is to attract new investors - Polish bank official

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(PAP) at/jch October 06, 2018

Jakub Papierski, vice-president of PKO Bank Polski (PKO BP) board, said in New York that the main goal facing his bank, after Poland had been reclassified by the FTSE Russell agency to "developed market", is to gain new investors.

While in New York, Papierski attended the "Poland, The Can-Do Nation" conference at Manhattan's Harvard Club.

Speaking to PAP, the official said the conference provided an opportunity to present PKO BP's operations, strategy, magnificent results and plans for the future.

"This is a part of our communication with investors, especially those, who have not yet made any investments in Poland," he said.

Referring to the global equity index provider FTSE Russell's decision to upgrade Poland from "emerging market" to "developed market", Papierski stressed that the fundamental task of his bank in the coming months is to reach investors using FTSE Developed Markets indices.

"This is the time to present our bank and our business to them. There are institutions which have invested in Poland as part of the emerging markets portfolio. They were usually represented by managers specialising in emerging markets. And now the point is to reach new ones who deal with developed markets and establish relations to make it possible for them to get acquainted with both PKO BP and the Polish economy," he underlined.

Papierski also emphasised the importance of Corporate Governance processes and stressed that following Poland's inclusion in the developed markets group, "Polish companies must ensure ever more transparency, cohesion, stability and predictability of results, just as the situation appears in developed markets."

Speaking about the strong relations of PKO BP with US investors, Paierski said that "PKO BP is not only a WSE-listed (Warsaw Stock Exchange - PAP) company but also the issuer of bonds, some of which are issued in USD, and, as such, controlled by US laws."

"So our contacts with investors in the US should be described as regular," he concluded.